EXCLUSIVE The Press Monitor Close to AUR in Romania - the most discussed topics in the pro-AUR press in the last week

In the last week, the press close to the AUR party focused on several recurring themes: the Adriana Georgescu scandal – the political-judicial "network" surrounding PNL and the Bolojan Government, the explosion of the Jeffrey Epstein subject and its ramifications in Romania, the reactivation of Crin Antonescu as an anti-system voice in relation to Nicușor Dan and PNL, the contestation of the Bolojan Government's "austerity", as well as the scandal related to former US ambassador Kathleen Kavalec.

Methodology and sources: how the pro-AUR press is structured

The analysis is based exclusively on data collected by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania for the period January 28 – February 4, 2026. The sources in this news feed and media posts belong to the radical/pro-AUR press cluster, grouped on the platform based on their consistently anti-mainstream and anti-globalist editorial positioning, proximity to AUR and party leaders (recurring interviews, massive coverage, common thematic campaigns) and an anti-EU, anti-NATO or deeply skeptical agenda, with a focus on conspiracy themes (deep state, globalist networks, "the parallel state").

Central to this cluster are sites such as ActiveNews (opinions and "captures" from mainstream media presented in a polemical key), R3media (conservative and religious content), 60m.ro, SolidNews, Ziarul Național and echoes from Criticii.ro, as well as Facebook pages associated with these editorial offices. On the platform, this type of sources is grouped into categories such as "Pro AUR sources" or "AUR Voices", as they share a common narrative framework (anti-system, anti-"globalists", pro-AUR, for example) and have a history of converging campaigns against PNL, USR, President Nicușor Dan or Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Top dominant themes

1. The Adriana Georgescu scandal – the "PNL–Bolojan–Nicușor Dan network"

2. The Epstein files and Romanian connections

3. Crin Antonescu as an anti-Nicușor Dan and anti-PNL vector

4. The austerity of the Bolojan Government and fiscal protests

5. Kathleen Kavalec and the "satanic art" from the US embassy

Adriana Georgescu

The case of Adriana Georgescu is by far the most intensely covered in the pro-AUR press. The dominant narrative: it is not just a corruption case, but proof of a "mafia" that unites PNL, the Bolojan Government and President Nicușor Dan, against the backdrop of a judiciary used as a political tool.

In this context, ActiveNews emphasizes the spectacle of the blatant, the label of "PNL lawyer", the closeness to Ilie Bolojan and the association with Brussels ("anti Ursula"), in a text laden with irony and derogatory terms ("sham lawyer"). The tone is clearly negative towards PNL and Bolojan, with accents of sarcasm and moral indignation.

SolidNews and Radio Gold FM amplify the theme of the "network of sinecures" – the case of Adriana Georgescu is linked to other female figures perceived as "sinecurists", in a narrative with conspiratorial nuances and a clear anti-system message.

The subject is treated with a predominantly negative sentiment towards PNL, Bolojan, the Government and parochial towards Nicușor Dan; at the same time, the case is used to validate the anti-"political caste" discourse. The case is instrumentalized as evidence that "PNL is captured by interest networks", and the Bolojan Government is described as the result and continuation of this system. AUR and its media vectors appear as those who "unmask" this network.

Jeffrey Epstein – the global conspirator who "confirms" radical narratives

The discussion surrounding Jeffrey Epstein represents the second major thematic bulge, with dense and deeply ideological coverage. We are not just dealing with the reporting of international revelations, but with a "globalist file" adapted to the local agenda.

ActiveNews publishes the series "THE EPSTEIN NUCLEI" signed by Cristian Niculescu, linking Epstein to the Rothschild family, Bill Gates, pandemic simulations and global health projects since 2017. The tone is explicitly conspiratorial and anti-globalist. Another ActiveNews article talks about "PUTIN REVEALED BY EPSTEIN", claiming that Zelensky is controlled by the Israelis, thus inserting the Epstein file into the logic of the war in Ukraine and the "Russia vs. West" struggle.

National.ro, 60m.ro and Facebook pages intensively pick up the fact that "Romania is mentioned in documents": there is insistence on emails, bank payments and alleged extensions of the network in Romania, with a focus on underage Romanian girls, academic contacts (Corina Tarniță), connections with politicians (Sebastian Burduja).

60m.ro builds viral pieces, such as Donald Trump's defensive statements ("I have never been to Epstein's island"), integrated into an anti-mainstream framework, in which the American president is the "victim" of cultural campaigns (Grammy, etc.).

The sentiment is massively negative towards the "globalist network", Western institutions (the US Department of Justice, the American/European political elite) and mainstream media, but positive or defensive towards Donald Trump (seen as a victim of these networks).

Crin Antonescu – reactivated as an anti-Nicușor Dan and anti-PNL tool

Crin Antonescu becomes a key character in the pro-AUR narrative, not for his own agenda, but for his utility in attacking President Nicușor Dan, PNL and Ilie Bolojan. Antonescu is quoted with harsh attacks against President Nicușor Dan ("Romania doesn't really have a president, it's taken in a package, it's in the EU's luggage. We have no foreign policy"), in an article from National.ro that is intensively picked up.

In other texts, he accuses PNL of being "captured in Bolojan's aggressive propaganda", suggesting that the prime minister has taken over the party and pushed it into an "austerity" zone and distanced it from the political base. R3media and similar pages promote Antonescu's replies ("Romania in shit", "Bolojan's lightness"), transforming the dispute into a symbolic conflict between the "old progressive elite" and a former PNL leader recovered in the anti-system discourse.

George Simion is also placed in a comparative equation ("The final should have been between me and Crin Antonescu"), which amplifies the legitimacy of the AUR leader as a main actor in future electoral competitions.

The tone is positive to neutral towards Antonescu (portrayed as a "lucid" critic of the system) and explicitly negative towards Nicușor Dan, PNL and Bolojan. The pro-AUR press thus uses a former liberal leader as a vehicle for its own attacks.

The Bolojan Government – "austerity" as a weapon and fuel for AUR

The theme of the Bolojan Government, along with repeated mentions of Bolojan/Ilie Bolojan, structures another major front: contesting austerity policies and administrative reforms.

National.ro repeatedly publishes articles with titles such as "PNL Mayor: The Bolojan Government is afraid. The citizens' fiscal strike will cause chaos in the country", building the scenario of an imminent fiscal revolt and a state on the brink of "social famine".

Local protests are reported ("LAST TIME! Protests in Deja against the austerity of the Bolojan Government: increased taxes have brought people to the streets") and union reactions (Cartel Alfa, public administration unions), with a focus on "flagrant violations of the Constitution".

Cristina Butură (AUR) is promoted as a central voice in defense of medical staff ("Medical staff is not your bargaining chip!"), linking health policy to the "cold mathematics" of the Government.

The tone is massively negative, Bolojan being labeled as the "austerity government" and the "cold calculator" that sacrifices citizens, public system employees and local communities. SolidNews takes advantage of the context to talk about "PNL de facto split", with Rareș Bogdan and Eduard Hellvig "reunited against Bolojan", which transforms the theme of austerity into a symptom of the internal crisis in PNL.

In conclusion, the Bolojan Government is the biggest "negative" of the week in the pro-AUR press: an authoritarian, neoliberal government disconnected from the population, in opposition to "real Romania" and the ambitions of AUR.

Kathleen Kavalec – "satanic art" and the diplomatic demonization of the USA

The subject of Kathleen Kavalec is a perfectly calibrated shock case for the anti-Western narratives of the pro-AUR press. National.ro publishes "Terrible revelations! What was found in the house of the former US ambassador to Bucharest! For this reason Kathleen Kavalec was urgently withdrawn from her post by Donald Trump", suggesting that the diplomatic withdrawal was a reaction to the "satanic art" in the residence.

R3media picks up and amplifies, in a series of video and photo materials, the revelations of Erin Elmore (Department of State, Art in Embassies): paintings with "satanic rituals with babies", calls to Marco Rubio's team, interventions in Congress.

SolidNews synthesizes the narrative in a militant register: "Americans have sent us defective ambassadors. Kathleen Kavalec exposed satanic art with babies!", suggesting that US diplomacy in Romania is infested with morally compromised and ideologically deviant figures.

The tone is extremely negative towards Kavalec and, by extension, towards the State Department and the American establishment; Donald Trump is presented as the actor who "corrects" this situation, thus in an implicitly positive light.

Other relevant themes in the ecosystem

Iran, Sergei Karaganov – geopolitical propaganda and anti-Westernism

The themes "Iran" and "Sergei Karaganov" are used to propagate a geopolitical framework in which the USA and Europe are the aggressors, while Russia and Iran are "reactive" actors. In the case of Iran, 60m.ro and National.ro talk about an imminent danger of war, American ultimatums and harsh reactions from the Tehran regime, while SolidNews again links the Epstein files to pressures on Trump to bomb Iran.

Sergei Karaganov is presented favorably in SolidNews ("Man of the Day") and in multiple video clips: a Russian scholar who tells the "truth" about the fact that Russia is actually fighting against Europe, the source of "misfortunes in history", and who justifies the possibility of using nuclear weapons. The tone is favorable to Russia (through Karaganov) and critical of Europe, NATO and the USA.

Conclusion

The pro-AUR press has built a strongly coherent agenda around several axes: the demonization of characters Ilie Bolojan and Nicușor Dan through the Adriana Georgescu scandal and related cases, the exploitation of the Epstein file to validate anti-Western conspiratorial narratives, the reactivation of figures like Crin Antonescu and Donald Trump as "witnesses" of the system's failure, plus the consolidation of a geopolitical framework in which Russia and Iran are legitimate counterweights to the "corrupt West". The tone is overwhelmingly negative towards national and Western institutions and positive towards AUR and actors perceived as anti-system, while NewsVibe data captures this polarization through the clear distribution of sentiments on themes.

*****Synthesis made with the help of a data monitoring feed provided by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data and images presented have been enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.